>> good evening. tonight topper is tracking snow showers. >> and we've got stuff that could be headed our way. we want to know what it's going to be for the morning commute. >> for the most part we are in good shape. if you're north of frederick and hagerstown, you could have a little slow going there. in the metro area, we're okay. lets start with the advisories. these haven't changed this much. we're still looking at winter weather advisories north and west of the mountains. the white is storm warning west of the divide for places like oakland and down toward the canadian valley. all of them expired 6:00 a.m. on tuesday. this activity that's going through looks like it's raining or snowing, but it's not reaching the ground. this is probably our best chance in the metro area of seeing anything in terms of a

snow shower or a flurry. so the wakeup weather, flurry possible. 30 to 36. 7:00 a flurry possible. 28 to 34. by 9:00 sunshine returns slowly. may take a while to get the sun back out. temperatures in the 30s. we have yet another cold front that rolls through tomorrow night. we'll tell you what that means in the evening commute when we come back. if this next story gets you riled up, that is exactly what we've got in mind. a wusa 9 undercover investigation proves that even in 2013 it is still harder for black people in the district to catch a cab than white people. we found that 25% of the time cab business drove right -- cabbies drove right by. what's more disturbing is the video we have pulling over 100 feet later to pick up our white decoy. >> if that makes you mad enough to get involved we've got a plan that might solve this thing. here's investigative reporter russ ptacek. >> reporter: when we first aired our story in december you tweeted me saying we needed to do it again late at night and

include women. we did, and you were right. undercover of darkness, d.c.'s taxis get worse. we tested nearly 100 taxis. every saturday night for three weeks. from sundown until 2:00 in the morning. >> cab approaching. >> reporter: tracking wusa 9 staff. >> is that good? >> reporter: and volunteers. >> i'm russ ptacek, wusa 9. do you guys want to be part of an investigation? >> reporter: including people we met on the streets. >> okay, i'll do it. >> reporter: to see who d.c. cabs would choose. >> no? why not. >> he's pulling off. >> reporter: and who d.c. cabs would refuse. >> i don't hold grudges, but i think you drove right by me. >> i didn't see him. i didn't know. >> did you not see me waving, right, too? >> i did not see you. >> reporter: this driver stopped but denied our

southeast d.c.destination request. why? listen carefully. he's got to go pick up two white passengers. >> i got a call. >> you got a call? >> i've got some white girls. >> okay. >> reporter: for our white passengers, cabs would do u- turns right in the middle of the street. this black sedan drove right past our black passenger, too, and pulled up in front of our white staffer a half block away. >> you stopped for this passenger. you stopped for the white passenger, you passed the black passenger. and you're not even licensed to pick up people on the street at all. >> reporter: he passed up this passenger, too, but not our white decoy. >> i just thinit's a shame that the cab wouldn't stop for the black man but i stopped for the white man. >> reporter: the one cab that did stop ordered him out. >> what happened? wait a second. you stopped for this passenger. why aren't you taking him where he wants to go? did you get a better fare? are you going to make more

money on that call? you're going to leave this kid here. all right. >> reporter: we tested without a second passenger, too. here we alternated one white man with two black men at the same washington locations to see how long they would have to wait. the white passenger was picked up as quick as 15 seconds from when he started to hail, waiting 5 minutes, 44 seconds, at most. the black passengers? about three times longer. one at 14 minutes, 18 seconds. the other, 14 minutes, 45 seconds. >> yay. >> reporter: we cheered when this passenger finally got a cab, only to realize it was not a licensed d.c. cab. >> what? hold it, hold it, hold it. pull this cab over now. right here. right here. come and get me. >> where is he going with him? >> reporter: i chased that maryland cab two blocks before

finding the passenger kicked out. >> it was craz >> he goes down a one-way street running from me. >> right. >> but at least you got a cab. >> right. >> reporter: except for that cab that sped off, all the other cabs said it wasn't what it looked like. it wasn't discrimination. they didn't see the guy. and how do you prove racism? but you can prove when a cabbie isn't doing his job. and that's what we hope to do. >> amazing stuff, russ. that's where our new eye alert system comes in. >> that's exactly right. the cab comes up and you have a destination you expect him to say no. have your tablet or phone ready because you are now to me a suspect d.c. cab. i'm recording this so i can send this to eye alert at wusa9.com or you can go to straight, you can bookmark it, wusa9.com eye alert or go straight to our web page and you'll see we have a link on the top of our banner to eye alert. if you click there it is actually quite simple to go in there and load this video.

now, once this video is there, we will send this directly to the d.c. taxi commission and the d.c. office of human rights. officials tell us they're going to take these videos seriously. $500 if they refuse to take you to your destination a pop. so let's record these videos. let's prove what's going on. find these -- fine these guys $500 a time until we end taxi discrimination in d.c. i'm investigative reporter russ ptacek, wusa 9. >> we'll see what happens. that nearly week-long hostage standoff at a bunker in alabama is over tonight with the 5-year-old hostage rescued and his 65-year-old kidnapper dead. the fbi raided the bunker this afternoon after their secret camera caught images of the man carrying a gun near the little boy. gary nurenberg has what we know. >> well, leslie, authorities in alabama are being prettytight- lipped tonight saying little about the raid to rescue the little boy. but a leader of the prince

george's county management team say they frequently train to be ready for even unlikely situations like this one. >> we pray it doesn't happen, but when it does, we're prepared to deal with it. >> reporter: principles county sergeant stayed on top of the week long drama in alabama after jimmy lee dykes allegedly climbed aboard this school bus looking for hostages, shot and killed the bus driver who tried to stop him and grabbed the 5- year-old known as ethan, holding him in a 24 square foot underground bunker. how do you get a hostage out of a bunker? >> our emergency services team trains for this. the better prepared they are, the better they'll perform when called upon. >> reporter: in alabama,negotiators talked for days communicating through a 4 inch ventilation pipe. >> we have mental health professionals and things that would be listening and say do you think this guy is capable of rational thoughts? do you think it's to a point he'll do harm to the hostage? >> that point came monday with the help of a secretly placed

camera. >> negotiations deteriorated and mr. daix was observed -- dykes was observed holding a gun. at this point, fbi agents fearing the child was in eminent danger entered the bunker and rescued the child. >> reporter: throw in two flash bangs to distract him and entered through a door in the roof. over in seconds, cops patting each other on the back. at a 10:00 press conference answered few questions. the little boy first in their thoughts. >> by the grace of god, you know, he's okay. and that was the mission of every man and woman on this compound. >> reporter: police are combing the bunker to make sure it is not booby-trapped. earlier this evening, president obama called the fbi director to congratulate him on the road. the motive here is still unclear but apparently the hostage taker dykes wanted attention for what are tonight being described as antigovernment grievances. tonight, we're learning disturbing new details about

the iraq war veteran charged with killing a former navy seal sniper, chris kyle and his friend. eddie ray ralph told a relative he traded his soul for a new truck. last night he became aggressive in his jail cell and was shocked with a stun gun and restrained. he's currently on suicide watch. president obama on a crusade now to curb gun violence. today he made his first trip outside the beltway pushing his new campaign. he was off to minneapolis, once nicknamed murder apolis because they had some shooting deaths. he praised the city's turn around achieved in part through tougher background checks and more men for at risk youth and offenders. that's what president obama hopes to see nationwide, but he will need the congress in his corner. >> i need everybody who's listening to keep the pressure on your member of congress to do the right thing. >> this is the first of several trips the president plans to

make to hopefully put pressure on a sharply divided congress. new tonight, a little breather for the nation, at least financially speaking. president obama has signed into law a bill that temporarily suspends the government's borrowing limit. that means we can actually pay our bills and avoid defaulting on those loans at least for a few more months. of course, all that does is set the stage for another political battle over taxes, spending and borrowing. three high school boys charged with child pornography were back in class today at west springfield high. police arrested those three sophomores january 11th and they're accused of making sex videos with underaged girls and sharing those videos. today we talked with some students at west springfield high. >> i'm disappointed in someone at your school would do that. it's like you need to represent your school and be a good example to others. >> yeah. >> i think they just let down everyone who goes here. >> we're told the videos show six girls in all. they attend several different

schools, including west springfield. police tell us this case is an ongoing investigation. well, people across the world were shocked when the taliban shot a 15-year-old girl in the head. but now, she is speaking out for the first time. >> today you can see that i'm alive. i can see. i can see you. i can see everyone. >> she says god gave her a second life. in october, taliban militants fired a bullet into her head on a school bus. before the assassination attempt, she had been on the stage winning awards for taking a brave stand against the taliban. she fought for the education of women, something the militant group tried to end. she vows she will return to pakistan. >> my mission is the same, to help people. and i will do that. >> taliban insurgents threatened to target her again. she is getting medical treatment in britain. she's expected to remain there for sometime.

new tonight at 11:00, the daughter that strawn thurman kept secret more than 70 years has died. her name is essie may washington williams and she didn't tell anybody who her dad was until he died ten years ago. she said she did not want to damage his political career. when thurman was in his 20's he growth his family's black made pregnant. still ahead the ravens return and the party continues. we've got details on tomorrow's big parade for the super bowl champs. and from the end zone to some end tables, how one particular play by the ravens in the superbowl means thousands of dollars worth of free furniture for some lucky folks.

>> those ravens are back in baltimore tonight. they are soup ore bowl champs. this is a scene late this afternoon as the team was coming back into charmed city. it was a dramatic -- dramatic nail biting fourth quarter finish but they won 34-31. however, most of us will remember this game as the blackout bowl, because into the third quarter, half the lights in the superbowl mysteriously went out. brought the whole game to a

screeching halt 34 minutes. officials tell us today e power since then abnormality and shut down by design. >> there was another system that they were ready to reboot just about when the system came up. so we did have another alternative. >> i guess that's good. new orleans has already expressed interest in hosting the super bowl in 2018. don't know if the outage might affect that bid. the longest superbowl in history featured several story lines yesterday. there was a battle between the two head coach brothers, joe flacco's mvp performance and the nonlip-synching performance from beyonce. >> the longest game. >> four hours and some odd minutes. the super bowl gives a big boost to businesses but one local company took a big hit. >> they're pretty happy about this. debra alfarone tells us the story of how 600 baltimore ravens fans might be sitting on

brand-new living room furniture tonight watching this story. >> look at him go. past the 50. >> reporter: how does this. >> inside the 20, what a kickoff return, 109 yards and a touchdown. >> reporter: turn into this? again, an end zone dance into end tables for everyone? gardeners furniture, a baltimore based family owned furniture chain is giving away more than a half million dollars worth of couches to coffee tables. before you run for the door, there's a catch. >> the deal was you had to come in thursday, friday, saturday or sunday and we cut it off at 3:00. >> reporter: that's gary molini. if the ravens one back either the opening kickoff or the second half kickoff for a touchdown, they'll let you have it for free as a promotion. it's not just the ravens winners. 624 customers are, too. >> i don't think anybody, including myself, expected jacobe jones to run back the kickoff, but not only that, the

ravens won the game, too, which was the icing on the cake. >> reporter: you might wonder why give away more than a half million dollars of this, this and this. i always wanted to do that. >> they're going to tell stories to all their friends it was a great experience, which is kind of what we're hoping. it's been a win for us and a win for our customers. >> reporter: and the kicker is gardeners bought insurance, so they're not out the half million, they're only out the premium, which they calculate is between $8,000 and $10,000. not bad for some free publicity on news station avenues station all over the country. >> i guess this is our 15 minutes of fame. >> reporter: debra alfarone, wusa 9. >> i guess they had to pay that premium whether they had to pay the insurance or not. tomorrow the city a throwing a big parade. it gets started at 10:45 in the morning at city hall. if you can't get up there, that's all right. we have you covered. we will live stream the whole event on our website, wusa9.com. and right after the news at

7:00, stay tuned for our special game on purple reign. kristen berset and i will recap the parade and celebration. get it, purple rain? >> we got it. going to be a banner week from the superbowl to the gram miss. next sunday is -- grammys. next sunday is going to be a big night. sting will perform along with bruno mars and rihanna. kelly clarkson will also perform, and will beyonce. people are still talk talking about that performance last night at the super bowl. join us, the 55th grammy awards are next sunday right here on wusa 9 starting at 8:05 high pressure you know, you noticed -- >> you noticed, the microphones of the other two destiny child were lower than the others. did you pick up on that? and on entertainment tonight they'd it was on purpose. >> interesting. i thought it was just because everybody holds the mike differently.

>> no, that's a little did i va nation -- diva nation stuff. not to shake mike's in full volume. >> mine will be at 100%, yours will be at 40%. >> that's right, nobody will even hear you. >> they were singing live, that's all we know. >> as loud as they could. >> absolutely. >> we've got a chance for a couple of flakes tomorrow. not going to dampen the spirits in baltimore. a live look outside. it is our live michael & son weather cam. 36 was the high. and temperatures haven't done much. in fact, now the new high is 37. so the clouds came in, winds out of the south/southwest. right now they're calm, has brought in a little milder air. so never was going to be a cold, cold night tonight. here's the deal. here's a look at the radar. this, you know, looked pretty good as it went through. just never reached the ground. it evaporated before it reached the ground. snow is breaking out in northern delaware and southern sections of new jersey. this second piece of energy ducks to the north as well. i don't see much in the

immediate metro area tonight. maybe a flake tomorrow morning. west of hagerstown, yes. you could get another coating before all of this is said and done. west of the divide, all bets are off. a couple of inches possible. the morning commute will be fine. not as cold tomorrow. clouds return tomorrow night. another cold front that rolls through tomorrow night. the good news is it is weak. that could generate a flurry, but that is about it. so for tonight, cold with a flurry or snow shower possible mainly north, 28 to 34. winds light southwest at 10. by morning a chance of a flurry or snow shower possible. 28 to 40 for temps and light winds. that's actually a pretty good deal for temperatures. by afternoon, it may take awhile, but skies return partly cloudy. not as cold. high temperatures near 45 with light winds. so 9 weather alerts are green across the board. maybe a flurry tomorrow morning. 44. nice on wednesday. upper 40s. very nice day. pleasant on thursday as well, 49. clouds come in late, but for the most part it will be a nice day. next seven days will be clouds

coming in thursday night. showers on friday in the morning. tapering off in the afternoon. and then a pretty nice weekend, upper 40s on saturday. just a little bit cooler. low 50s on sunday and then look at this, low 50s with rain on monday and really we actually need the rain next week. >> rain. rain it is. >> yes, rain it is. >> all right. >> i heard joe flacco's already started working out so he can carry his wallet next year. >> he's going to need that. like ice cube said, today was a good day for joe flacco. so was yesterday, too. we're going to take you through a day in the life of joe flacco. trophy physician, mickey -- trophies, mickey mouse and new wheels. why it calls for celebration. you'll learn

did you see beyonce? wow, her act was so hot it blew up the fuse box and shut the lights down. actually commissioner goad dell says no -- goodell says no correlation between the two. the ravens returning to baltimore today champions. before 5:00 this afternoon their plane touching down. then the motorcade heading back to owens mill. big plans tomorrow, of course. a parade and celebration downtown. head coach john harbaugh figures ravens nation will be out flying in a large flock.

>> you can't imagine. with the send-off we had when we went out there, which i never heard after send-off to the superbowl. maybe some other cities have had it. we had thousands and thousands of people for that. i can't imagine what this parade is going to be like. >> we will see. joe flacco will be one of the presiding figures. what a run for him throughout the entire playoffs. 11 touchdowns, no picks. those 11 t.d.'s ties a post- season record with joe montana and kurt warner. a performance like that, you go see mickey. >> joe flacco, you, the baltimore ravens just won the super bowl. what are you going to do next? >> i'm going to disney world. ♪ your dreams come true ♪ dreams come true ♪ >> oh, god. >> i thought that's what you were going to say on the answer. >> joe montana? >> i could have. >> flacco pulled himself

together after a night of celebrations and flew down to hang out with mickey. throw the ball at the camera. you know the deal. it's a tradition since 1987 when phil sims did it. how did that? all right, a busy day began with flacco receiving a new car. a new car. not just any car. 2014 corvette stingray. 450 horses. just like me. zero to 60 in four seconds. the car was presented by a dlep called banner chevrolet which was wiped out by hurricane katrina and then rebuilt. that's the good part. they gave him the car. that's how the day began. here's how it ended. flacco in new york. take a visit with dave. you can see the full interview tonight right after wusa 9 news. all right, wizards, clippers, no blake griffin, no chris paul.

that makes it easy. 5 and 6 from deep. wizards by 5 at the half. garrett temple, he was on a mission, too. double figures. the wizards, how about this? no longer the worst record in the nba because they win tonight. 98-90. now it's charlotte who has the worst record in the nba. one of the reasons i think the wizards are doing better is because of this bubble head doll here. even john wall without the arm, so the caps who haven't been playing that well, they have a bobble head. bastrom not drawn to scale here. >> this is like a stuck head. >> obviously not built to scale, because he's not tall. >> i'll bobble him for you. how's that? >> there you go. >> strike a pose, there's noth

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oh, man, congratulations to those ravens. we're looking to the big parade and party tomorrow. don't forget our purple rain 7:30. >> purple rain. all right, don't forget we're always on wusa9.com. have a great night. >> bye-bye, everybody.